Where The Angels Live
by fione stecy
Summary: After the events with Foyett, someone from brass wants a more extensive psyh eval of the team. The two agents assigned think there's more politics going on than just an evaluation. No pairings, team centric.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. This is written for entertainment only. I do not own any of the Criminal Minds characters mentioned nor am I making any money from this.

Author Notes: This is my first attempt at a Criminal Minds fan fiction story. Please let me know if you like the opening prologue and think the story would be worth continuing.

* * *

Where the angels live:

Prologue:

"And…" I looked up from the report I was reading. Greg tilted his head as he often did when faced with news he didn't want to deliver.

"They want us in on this."

I could feel my eyebrows go up. "An invalid eval. Seriously? I show the collaterals back him up. Hell, even his team members back him and they know his work best."

"His team back's him up too well. That's the concern." Greg started tossing the plastic foam basketball I had in my office from hand to hand. "It could be a problem. At least that's the word."

"I'm not getting something from brass. Where's the gain here. You know policy about salvaging established agents."

"Anita"

"What?"

"He killed a man with his bare hands" Greg lifted his hands for emphasis.

"Justifiable, according to his own section chief and the review board. As stated," I flipped through the two page summary report, " 'in accordance.'"

"With. His. Own. Hands." He waved his hand in front of me. I smacked at it.

"Yeah, I got that. He took leave. He passed the FFDE eval and conduct review"

"With Mority for FFDE, that couldn't of been too hard for him. Mority wouldn't even know to look beneath the answers. And this agent knows all the right answers, which is the basis for the invalid eval by brass. The conduct review isn't in question."

"Greg, they're basing the invalid eval on response manipulation. This is based on the fact that he knew all the right answers and only that. It's not legit. Not in my opinion. If it came down to it, most agents know the right answers."

"Yes, they do." Greg came behind me and rolled my chair out. "And that, my love, is why you and I are doing this. We'll make sure there is no second guessing this time so brass can't do whatever devious plot they've conjured up."

It was a losing argument and I knew it. The brass wanted something from this team. Doing an in field evaluation was rare. Someone with connections was pulling the strings on this and I'd have to find out why before this was all done.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: All disclaimers still apply. The characters of Greg and Anita are mine though. The ones recognized from Criminal Minds… not so much. ;-). Spoilers through season 5. In this story, Hotch is back from his leave of absence. He has been cleared for duty. He is back as unit chief. Morgan still has his office.

"Who overcomes by force hath overcome but half his Foe" John Milner, Paradise Lost

Chapter 1:

As the expression goes, 'you could cut the tension in here with a knife' certainly applies. Greg and I sat in Agent Hotchner's office. His expression was grim. Agent Rossi stood by the window overlooking the bullpen watching the action below. I seriously doubt he was surprised by our arrival. He was rumored to be one of the best information gatherers in the FBI. In other words, he knew all the right people to tap for gossip.

Agent Hotchner's intense gaze belied the softness of his tone, "What is it you hope to accomplish with this in field review?"

"Nothing good" Greg replied, "If we're met with an antagonist attitude"

I looked down and took a quiet breath. Male posturing. I swear to God if I could have gotten away with it, I would have kicked Greg in the shin. He should know better than to fall into the alpha male pissing contest. "Think of us as another tool to use on this next case," I replied gently.

Rossi turned around, "Sharp tools that could be used to poke at us."

"Agent Rossi…"

"What's really going on here? What's the end game?"

"We don't know. Do you?" I shot back. I saw his hands clench on the edge of the windowsill.

"Dave" Agent Hotchner addressed his friend in that quiet warning tone of his.

I took one more calming breath and appealed to the unit chief, "Look, let us do our job and let Greg and I worry about the endgame. We'll be upfront with you if you tell the team to be upfront with us. You never know, Agent Hotchner, maybe, just maybe, we can help your team in the process."

I could see him turning everything around in his head looking at all the angles. He knew his choices were limited. I wanted to give him some semblance of control. I was hoping he would see that working with us was the better option. I honestly did feel that Greg and I might be able to spot any lingering issues with this team. If we had control, we had a chance of thwarting brass from whatever they wanted to do and help them as well.

Agent Hotchner looked from Greg to me, "Deal?"

I nodded my head slightly for him to continue.

"You follow my lead in the field while on this case. Any information you get on what's really behind this, you share. Any issues with my team members, you come to me first."

"The last one," Greg replied, "is going to be an issue."

"Why?"

"Because Agent, we need to respect confidentiality and you and your team needs to know we're a safe zone for them to open up. Unless the issue is serious enough to warrant your involvement as unit chief, you won't be informed." I answered.

He waited a beat processing all the angles good and bad of my last statement, "We move at a fast pace here. I need you both to be ready."

"Understood."

"Dave, can you let JJ know we're ready and have the others gather."

"You got it" He replied. He walked out of the office.

The three of us stood gathering our cases and moved toward the conference room. Greg leaned over and whispered, "So was it my shin or my balls this time?"

A/N: I realize that this is a little slow going as far as action. I apologize. There will be a case thrown in with everything else. I'm hoping I didn't bite off more than I can chew here. I'm a little nervous about this and is keeping my fingers crossed that folks will at least think the story is halfway ok.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2:

Greg and I could hear the quiet chatter coming from the conference room as we approached. The layout of the room was interesting. Agent Jareau stood at the front near the pull down screen with a clicker in her hand. The table itself was round and my thoughts couldn't help but think of King Arthur and his knights. Agents Rossi, Prentiss, Morgan and Reid sat around the table apparently at ease with each other and with this routine. Greg and I stayed near the back wall by the door as Agent Hotchner walked toward Agent Jareau near the front of the room to address the group.

"Agents Johnston and Seely will be joining us for the duration of this case. They have my professional courtesy. I expect everyone here to extend the same. JJ." Obviously handing the floor over to Agent Jareau, he sat down next to Reid. I saw both Prentiss and Morgan look at Rossi. Rossi shook his head slightly. It was an interesting non-verbal by play and judging by the smirk on Greg's face, he also caught it. It seemed "mom and dad" were telling the "kids" to play along for the moment.

Agent Jareau clicked four images onto the screen. "Joan Mardes, 26, Pam Dennis, 41, Christy Sweeny, 32, Janice Bittner, 29. All strangled within six months in Indianapolis. All four had bruising on their wrists, ankles, arms, and legs."

"They were held down," interjected Reid.

"Pam Dennis' jaw was broken." She continued.

"Any sign of sexual assault?" volleyed Morgan.

"Not exactly."

"Meaning?" asked Prentiss.

"There was signs of recent sexual activity according to the report for both Pam Dennis and Christy Sweeny, but …"

" Sexual assault would have been legally inconclusive due to insufficient trauma findings," I finished. "Bruising isn't enough to prove actus reus."

"Agent Johnston's correct," Hotch stated.

Rossi consulted the file in front of him, "Joan Mardes was killed six months ago, Janice Bittner was next at three months, while Christy Sweeny and Pam Dennis were killed within two weeks of each other."

"The unsub could be devolving," Morgan stated.

"Or he could be getting more proficient at killing," Rossi stated.

"JJ," Hotch stated, "have Garcia start looking into background on these four women. Let's see if there's a common link there." He looked at Greg and I, "Wheels up in one hour."

It was amazing watching how quickly and quietly the six people exited the room. Each agent digesting and analyzing the preliminary information Agent Jareau had presented. Greg looked at me,

"What are you thinking?" he asked.

"They're a tight group" I replied.

"Hmmm, they're also the prettiest group in the bureau. Lucky me I say"

"Good God, Greg."

"Anita, it's going to be ok. I already have Molly back tracking the paperwork trail for the in field request. I also have her pulling all of their review jackets so we can have a starting point for each member."

"Good thinking."

"And the case itself?"

I interrupted him with a gentle tone, "One step at a time, Greg. It's a rough one. However, with their focus on the case, they might actually slip us an honest response rather than the appropriate, manipulated, correct response. Do me a favor though?"

"Depends on the favor."

"Your last in field review, Greg?"

"Oh, now, Anita, not all that was my fault. Mority's just a tight ass." He put an arm around my shoulder, "I will be a perfect angel. Don't you worry, love."

A/N: I wanted to set up the case in this chapter. "Actus Reus" is a legal term for the actual criminal act. I'm attempting to stay as true to character reactions as I can. I want to stay in canon as well. I'll do my best. The next chapter will touch on the case, Molly's findings, and a small reveal during a talk with one of the team members. That's the goal. If you're still sticking with me, thanks so much.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3: all disclaimers apply.

When Agent Hotchner claimed the team moved quickly, he wasn't exaggerating the statement. As soon as the jet landed in Indianapolis, Prentiss and Rossi left to go visit the crime scenes, Hotchner and Morgan went to the morgue. JJ, Reid, Greg and I headed to the station house where JJ met with the LEO. We were designated a small conference room. Reid was currently working on the geographical profile while JJ was off somewhere with her ever present phone gathering information on the victims recent activities. Greg and I found a small-unused space to set up our laptops just outside the conference room. I was currently reviewing Agent Reid's file. Molly had already pulled review jackets on all the agents in anticipation of my request. Greg was in the room with Reid pushing pins in a map as directed. I saw JJ walk past at a fast pace and went in to join the three.

"What's up?" I asked Greg.

"She's hooking up with Garcia on the laptop." He responded.

I saw Garcia's face pop up on the laptop. Technology definitely wasn't my forte so this still seemed like magic to me. Greg walked toward the laptop. He and Garcia knew each other. I didn't know how and never had reason to ask.

"Ah, Garcia, the love of my life."

"JJ, tell the evil one here that I have more power than he does and if he messes with my team, then he will suffer the consequences."

I saw JJ smile at the comment. She leaned into the laptop successfully cutting off Garcia's view of Greg. "Garcia, tell Reid what you told me."

"Ok. So, I'm checking for any crossovers with your victims and nothing, nothing, nothing. But then I noticed that Christy Sweeny recently moved to Indianapolis from Texas."

"Why is that significant?" Reid asked.

"I'm getting to that, oh young one. It seems that Pam Dennis still has her residence listed in Ohio. She is not from Indianapolis."

Agents Morgan and Hotchner stepped into the conference room at that moment. "Hey, baby girl, did I hear you right? Pam Dennis is not from Indianapolis?" Morgan asked.

"Neither, originally, is Christy Sweeny." JJ added.

I looked at Agent Hotchner, "What are the chances that the two women who might have been sexually assaulted are not from Indianapolis?"

"It's possible the unsub had more of a connection to these two women. Garcia, go back further with the financials and see if there are any common links. Look at donations to foundations, seminars, classes they may have taken at a university or local college. This unsub knew these women and targeted them specifically and he has others willing to help him."

"Will do, sir." Her face clicked off the laptop.

JJ consulted her phone, "Prentiss and Rossi are on their way back."

"JJ, fill them in and tell them to go interview Joan Mardes next of kin. Morgan, you and I will meet with Janice Bittner's family. This unsub is looking for his next victim. We need to find what connects these women."

Without sparing us a second glance, Agents Hotchner and Morgan quickly left. JJ walked out to intercept Rossi and Prentiss. Reid flipped a file and seemed to be intent on that.

"I feel a bit like the red headed step child, love. Care to console me?" Greg teased. I ignored him as usual and went to sit by Reid. Greg sat across from us recognizing that time had come for us to talk to one of the agents on hand.

"Reid," I started, "you know we're here for an in field review. I'd like to take this opportunity to ask you some questions."

"Agent Johnston, I really need to work this case."

I shook my head slightly. Reid looked at Greg, then me. He gently closed his file in front of him. "We do good work. I just don't understand what there is to gain from this."

"We have a lack of understand also, young one." Greg said gently mimicking Garcia's term for the agent. Reid cocked his head in acknowledgement.

"Reid," I drew his attention, "did you have a problem with substance abuse at one point?"

No response from the agent. It seemed almost as if he was holding his breath. "It's the medical files in your review jacket. You've had two serious medical events recently. Narcotics of any form are not listed in the file for you."

"Is my job in jeopardy?"

"No, Reid."

"Then is this about Hotch?"

I had to give the young Agent credit. His file listed one of his strengths as the ability to discern patterns. He was connecting what seemed to be the logical dots.

"We're not sure," Greg responded quietly. "We want to figure this out the same as you. Anything you say to us will be held in the strictest of confidence. Anita and I, we're being used by someone here for some gain we don't know about and I don't like it. We're also trying to see the pattern."

"Reid, your problem with drugs started shortly after Agent Prentiss started on the team. Is that correct?" I asked.

He nodded with a quizzical look waiting for me to give him more.

"You were close to Agent Gideon?"

"I don't understand."

"He submitted displinary note for Agent Prentiss at ten weeks. It stated that she over stepped her bounds of authority with the other team members. I don't think Agent Hotchner was aware of it. Agent Hotchner submitted a general three-month probationary review for her as required. No mention of the displinary note was in Agent Hotchner's review."

"Why would he do that? He liked her. She's a good agent and is good for this team."

"Agent Gideon may have been trying to protect you from a potent ional threat. He may have had a reason to think that someone wanted to split up the team and would use Agent Prentiss to do that. There were objections to her joining the BAU. He may have heard about that and assumed there was more of an agenda on her end."

Reid started doodling on the pad in front of him. He was doing what he did best. Connecting the patterns. "If there were objections to her joining the BAU, then splitting the team would get her out and transferred where they wanted as well without her wanting to quit for being used."

"Good point, young one." Greg replied.

"But Reid," I said, "I can't discount that this could be about any one of you," I held up my hand to stop him from interrupting, "including Emily." My phone beeped. "Greg, Molly sent an SOS. I'm sorry, Reid, we have to take this. We will get to the bottom of this, I promise you."

He nodded as we walked out of the room.

"Where do you know Garcia from?" I asked Greg when we stepped out.

"I'm a stud, love. I know all the best women at the bureau."

A/N: There is nothing in canon that would suggest Gideon would have written a disciplinary note on Prentiss. That is strictly for this story. I did place that action as taking place shortly after "Jones" in season 2. I slightly reference that Prentiss would quit before bowing to a political agenda by Reid's statement. I don't think the team members are unaware of that. That's my take on canon though. If you're still with me, thank you so much!! Next chapter will have more of Rossi and Prentiss since they were completely absent during this.


	5. Chapter 5

All disclaimers still apply….

Chapter 4:

Greg followed me out of the room while I called Molly, "What happened?" I asked as soon as the line connected.

"Hello to you too."

"Molly."

"Apparently, Agent Fallon's unit chief decided not to heed your recommendation. He was put back in the field. Fallon got shot in the ass."

I wasn't sure I heard her right, "Fallon got shot in the ass?"

"Fallon got shot in the ass."

"Molly."

I saw Greg raise his eyebrows. He had a full Cheshire cat grin starting up. I smacked him hard in the arm and turned away from him.

"Nita, I'm emailing you the report. It's..umm... quite a read let me tell you. The section chief is going to want a response as soon as possible. Ohh is Greg amused. I love an amused Greg."

I scrubbed my hand over my face. This was not what I needed to be dealing with right now. "Send the section chief a standard.."

"Blow off email? I can buy you some time with this since the report is being emailed and Fallon will be out of commission."

"Thanks, Molly. Any luck on tracking who's looking into this unit?"

Greg nudged me and mouthed to put her on speaker. I handed him the phone and let him do it. "Molly?"

"Nita, you really ought to learn how to put me on speaker without disconnecting me. You know it's just a turn on to let Greg push any of your buttons." I heard her shuffling papers around, "Ok, let's see. You two do realize that the FBI employees 32,709 people, has around 13,000 special agents and has 56 field offices, right?"

"I didn't say this would be easy." I responded.

"I'm concentrating on DC since it's the largest field office. I've got a few feelers out for transfer requests directed to the DC office since you two think this might be about someone wanting to poach one of the agents. There are no current disciplinarians on any of the agents. There are current medical watches on both Agent Hotchner and Reid. I'm checking now to see if anyone is attempting to pull review files, or make any inquiries about any of the agents. I've been talking to Garcia. She's like an overprotective mama bear with these guys, but she's working with me. Did you two know that Morgan was up for a promotion and transfer to lead the NY field office, but Agent Hotchner recommended against it?"

"Would Morgan take the promotion if offered?" Greg asked.

"According to Garcia, not at this time. I checked out that field office though and they're not looking to replace their unit chief right now. It's not NY, but maybe someone wants one of these agents and it's a lateral move instead of a promotional one. The only way to do that is to disrupt the team enough that a lateral transfer would be accepted without raising a red flag." Molly responded. "I'll keep at it."

"Thanks, Molly." I said. I closed the phone up. "Well, this eliminates Rossi at least."

"We knew that pretty much to start. The guy would just retire again if someone forced a transfer on him. It looks like someone's hoping we'll find a reason to agree with a transfer order."

I nodded in agreement. I pulled out the review jackets once more looking at them for specific lead questions. Greg grabbed the top file off my pile and set it on his side without looking at whom he pulled. "Tea, love?"

"Mmm, hmm" I was already making notes on Agent Derek Morgan based on his file while Greg walked out. He arrived back a few minutes later setting the tea in front of me. I glanced up in thanks.

"Ah," He stated opening his file. "Agent Emily Prentiss speak to me my lovely."

* * *

Author notes: Currently, as of 2009 statistics at the FBI official web site, there are 32,709 employees, 13,249 special agents, and 56 active field offices in the US. Next chapter will deal with the case specifically. JJ's interview also coming up. I realize that the updates are slow. The holidays really threw me off as far as writing. Thanks for anyone still sticking with this story. I really appreciate anyone taking the time to read.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5:

All disclaimers still apply: A/N follows chapter...

* * *

It had been a long afternoon for both Greg and I. Although we were currently on an in field review, we still had a backlog of paperwork and evals to submit from our office. Paperwork never ceased it seemed no matter what the job. Agents Hotchner and Morgan returned from their interview of the Bittner family. I saw them quietly talking to JJ as Prentiss and Rossi walked into the room. I saw Prentiss hesitate slightly upon seeing Greg and me. Rossi nudged her gently further into the room.

"Joan Mardis was heavily involved with her church," Rossi started the conversation looking down at his notes. "Her sister said she was going to some sort of prayer meeting once a week."

"A healing service," Prentiss added.

Morgan looked up from his notes, "A healing service? Janice Bittner played guitar at a healing service at St. Bartholomew's church according to her family."

I saw the question in Greg's eyes, "Catholic's hold healing services? Is that like the smack in the head 'be healed' thing? I don't associate Catholics with that at all."

"Actually, the Catholic charismatic movement really took hold in the early 90's." Reid supplied, "There was a huge interest in holding all types of healing services, large catholic conferences with seminars about the charismatic gifts and establishing smaller prayer groups particularly geared toward teens and young adults to try and revitalize the church at the time. Although due to financial constraints, the events are fewer now, prayer groups and healing services are still being held."

Someone had connected Garcia up and I heard her voice pipe up from the laptop, "I'm not surprised oh evil one that you don't know much about this topic."

"What do you have, Garcia?" Hotch asked.

"Well, my saintly colleagues, I too have found a similar connection for both Pam Dennis and Christy Sweeny. Both attended the same conference at Stuebenville University eight months ago."

"That's a Franciscan university isn't it?" JJ asked.

Reid nodded, "Steubenville University has been holding conferences for the general public since 1975."

"So this Unsub is finding these women at local prayer groups and is drawing them into his smaller circle convincing them that he has the answers they seek." Rossi said.

"A cult leader." Prentiss stated.

"Financially, these women were not taking any large sums of money out of their accounts," Garcia supplied.

"It's not money he wants," Hotch said. "He wants their total devotion."

"And when he doesn't get it, he's able to convince those around him of that." Rossi explained.

"He may be using his knowledge from these conferences to hold some sort of power over the women." I said.

Hotch cocked his head in question, "How do you mean."

"He may be praying over them and claiming that they have evil spirits in them that need to be removed and that these spirits are causing them to act in a certain way."

"Exorcisms?" Prentiss asked.

"Not exactly, but along the same vein as that. I've attended smaller prayer group gatherings where a participant was prayed over. The belief in the group while praying over this person is extremely intense. The ligature marks suggest that these women were held down." Hotch nodded at me so I continued, "If the Unsub claimed that he was fighting an evil spirit and the women fought, the others holding her down would believe that the spirit was fighting and not the woman."

Greg gently touched my arm probably sensing my discomfort with this.

"We're ready to give the profile," Hotch said.

* * *

The team described their profile to the officers gathered as a white male in his early forties. He was described as charismatic. He did not have a steady job and might either be living with a woman for his means of support or living at a church doing odd jobs in exchange for room and board. He probably at some point might have been arrested for vagrancy. Someone had asked if he was like Charles Manson and the team corrected that he was more like David Koresh. It was interesting to hear the team volley the profile between them to the officers in the room. Garcia had worked on getting a list of prayer meetings within the geographical area that Reid had identified. JJ was working with the local detectives on arrest records.

Greg had been on the phone with Molly going over some details on the paperwork we dealt with today. As he hung up the phone, he walked back to where I was standing.

"You want to talk about it?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"I was going to try and catch Prentiss alone." He stopped my immediate response by holding up his hands, "for the two of us to interview."

"But?" I asked.

"She's still too antagonistic right now."

"Suggestions."

"Agent Jareau?"

"Morgan," I countered.

"Beauty over brawn." He shot back.

I chuckled at his methods, "I don't know. Which agent is which?" I replied coyly.

Greg laughed, "Well played, Agent Johnston. Morgan it is."

* * *

A/N: This chapter was harder to write than I thought it would be. I was planning on having this chapter deal with the case and do an interview, but it didn't work out that way. I did check and Steubenville is still holding conferences. 2010 conference theme is the truth shall set you free. My intention is not to offend anyone's beliefs, but be warned that religious beliefs will play a part in the case end of this story. If you're still with me and reading, thank you so much for sticking with me. Also, as a reminder, this story isn't Beta'd so any mistakes are my own.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6:

Note: Some swearing ahead. There are indirect spoilers in this story. All disclaimers still apply.

* * *

Greg and I spotted Morgan at a desk in the main area with a box full of files. "Paperwork is never ending, isn't it." Greg said as we approached.

Morgan looked up, "You're telling me. Never really appreciated the enormity of it until recently though."

"Morgan." Greg started.

He interrupted, "Let's just get this done, Greg."

I looked from one to the other. The familiarity was something I clearly wasn't expecting. "Meet us over at our corner?" Greg asked Morgan. "I need a minute here."

Morgan nodded at Greg in understanding. Greg took Morgan's file from my hand and flipped it open. "Test time, Anita."

"Greg."

"Sshh… let me start you out. Morgan is an obsessional crimes expert, runs a self-defense class at the bureau, and his current assignment is the BAU. Past assignments?" He asked.

It finally hit me, "Morgan's eighteen months undercover. You handled the debrief."

"Yes," he said. " And we kept in touch. We have a lot in common. He and Garcia are close friends."

"You've mentioned Garcia, but never Morgan." I paused gathering my thoughts, "Did the debrief extend?"

"It was a rough assignment." He replied, "but not recently, Anita. It can't be construed as conflict of interest. There have been no recent documented counseling with our office with any of the team members."

"No documented counseling? Dammit, Greg. You should have told me."

"And you tell me everything?" he asked angrily, "I won't break his trust." He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "or yours."

Molly's comment about Greg pushing my buttons came back to me. He knew well how to do it. I could see the anger and hurt in Greg's eyes. Our partnership had always bordered on the complicated side. "Let's go talk to Morgan."

Greg gently grabbed my arm as I turned to walk away. "Anita?"

I gave him a slight smile, "You take the lead on this, Agent Seely. But that means no Agent Prentiss for you."

I saw him visibly relax at the familiar banter, "You wound me, Agent Johnston."

Morgan had grabbed a third chair from somewhere and was watching us intently as we approached. "Everything good?" He asked Greg who nodded in response. "You gonna fill me in, man?"

"What's Garcia said?" Greg countered.

"Oh, so that's how you want to play this." He looked at me, "What about you, Agent Johnston? Care to let me know what's really going on here?"

Greg pulled out the chair opposite of Morgan and sat down drawing his attention, "Derek, if you were offered a transfer right now, would you take it?"

"What?"

"Think about it," Greg said. "What would you do?"

"I..wait" He stuttered clearly confused by the question.

Greg continued pushing, "Derek, think. You've been up for a promotion. You're boss nixes it. You've led this team. Now you're subordinate again. You've been at this a long time. Would you take the transfer?"

I could see Morgan's jaw working. Greg was stirring up Morgan's own doubts about continuing at the BAU. That much was obvious. I could only conclude that he knew this through their friendship.

Morgan looked down then back up again after collecting his thoughts, "a forced transfer? No. You know that, Greg. I may be questioning this job, but I'm not ready to leave. Not yet anyway."

"What about a direct promotion?" I asked.

"I don't know." He replied. "I honestly don't know. I'm needed here right now. Good or bad. This is where I need to be. It's about someone poaching." He addressed Greg directly, "You know I won't accept on that alone."

"Garcia?" Greg asked.

I saw Morgan smile, "And Molly. The two of them together is scary. Any ideas on who yet?"

"Who's poaching or who's the target for poaching?" Greg asked.

"Both."

Greg shook his head.

"You'll keep me in the loop?"

Greg looked at me then. "Morgan, if they decide to use the friendship you have with Greg as an issue of conflict, it could fast track a transfer."

"That's bullshit." He replied.

"Yeah, but they often use shit to make stuff grow." Greg said. "We gotta 'kiss' this for now. No extras and we'll be fine. Trust me on this?" Greg held out his hand.

Morgan took the offered hand, "Understood. I won't press it. But, Greg, if it comes down to it, you let me know what's real."

Greg nodded at Morgan. Morgan walked back to his files. "Kiss it?" I asked.

Greg smiled, "Keep it simple stupid."

* * *

A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews. CMFan2009, NerdGurl89 (yes, there will be a Prentiss chapter soon), Vampireact – Derek is really hard to write. I hope I did him justice. For those who requested more Reid, all the team will make more appearances.

This really is turning out much different than I thought. It's also been much harder to write than I thought. I'm so glad some of you are still sticking with me on this. Hopefully, I'm staying true to my original idea and keeping things as canon as possible with the characters. I do believe that anyone undercover would have a debrief with a counselor upon leaving an undercover assignment. However, I can't back that up with any facts. So I hope you will all give me a little suspension of disbelief for that one?


	8. Chapter 8

All disclaimers still apply...

Chapter 7:

The whole team was out canvassing churches trying to find a viable suspect. They had a working profile. Reid was paired with Prentiss. Hotch went with Rossi, Morgan took JJ with him. It had been a long day for all of them. Greg and I also had a couple of churches to go to under orders from Hotch. I knew it served two purposes. The first really was to help with the case. The second was to get the two of us out of sight of the team allowing some breathing space. It was a good call by the team leader. Greg and I were standing outside the front of St Andrew's church. He was getting off the phone with Morgan.

"Thanks Derek," I heard him reply as he hung up the phone. "Morgan said to ask the priest about a man named Don Martin?"

"Do they think that he might be the unsub?"

"He's looking good for it. He fits the description and Garcia is looking into his history and possible location now." Greg replied.

Greg walked up to the church doors and pulled. I should have stopped him knowing the doors would be locked. He turned back to me. "I take it the doors are locked."

He rolled his eyes, "Thank you, captain obvious."

I had a hard time controlling the smirk on my face. "Sorry."

"No, you're not."

"No, I'm not. Rectory, Greg. We'll find someone in there."

We walked to the side of the church toward the back smaller building. "I thought churches we're always supposed to be open." Greg complained.

"In the movies, sure." I answered, "in real life, not so much."

We found a nun in the rectory. St. Andrew's had a prayer and praise meeting every Friday night. It was run in the common hall in the basement of the church by one of the parishioners. She said she had met Don Martin a few times since he had attended the meeting. He was always with a young woman, but didn't know her name. She played guitar at the meeting. I called Rossi with the information. As I hung up the phone, Greg knew something was up.

"Well?" he asked.

"Reid and Prentiss also got the same information. The girl's name is Susan Rutten. Garcia got her information and the team is going there to try and pick up Don Martin for questioning." I hesitated.

"And," Greg prompted.

"Rossi wants to talk with us privately back at the station."

* * *

Greg and I drove back to the station house. Hotch approached us as we entered. "Don Martin is in interview room 2. I'd like you to observe the interview."

"Who's conducting the interview?" I asked.

"Prentiss and Rossi." He answered. As if he heard his name, Rossi walked into the main area from the interview rooms to join us.

Hotch looked at Rossi, "You ready?"

"I need a minute here with these two." He answered, "Check with Prentiss for me?"

Hotch nodded and left the three of us to find Prentiss.

"Rossi," I started.

"Whatever's going on here with this isn't about Hotch. I can give you two that much right now." He interrupted.

"You're certain?" Greg asked.

He gave Greg a steely look. "I'll take that as a yes," I answered. "Gentlemen, we need to head to the interview rooms. We can continue this later."

Rossi nodded in acknowledgement and started toward the observation rooms. Greg blocked me from following. "He rubs me the wrong way."

"Maybe because you two are a lot alike." I countered.

"Gentlemen? I see a ma'am comment in your future for that one, Anita." Greg teased.

* * *

A/n: Thanks for the reviews and for continuing to stick with me on this. This chapter was basically a set up chapter for what's coming next. That is why it's so short. Just a warning though, it might be a couple of more weeks before the next chapter is up. Life is quite busy for me right now.

The next chapter will be heavy with Prentiss, Rossi, and the unsub for those who are interested. At least that's the plan. All reviews welcome!!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 8:

All disclaimers still apply…

We walked into the observation room. Prentiss, with an open file in her hand, was in observation with Hotch. Rossi went straight into the interview room. The intention was to try and get him to tip his hand and to reveal the whereabouts of Susan Rutten. She couldn't be located and Hotch was concerned that she was the unsub's latest victim.

Don Martin was a big guy. He was at least 6'2". He had a bulkier frame. His hair was sandy blonde and worn down to his shoulders. He had a long beard. I heard him speak in what sounded like a Middle Eastern language. I rolled my eyes and Greg smirked.

"Arabic," Prentiss stated. "God loves you."

"Trying to impress." Hotch said.

"You wouldn't happen to know either Hebrew or Aramaic?" I asked Prentiss.

She hesitated before answering. I could see she was thinking the question through in her head. "Hebrew, yes, a little. Aramaic is a dead language. I can say 'God loves you' in Aramaic and maybe one or two other phrases, but that's it."

"Aramaic was the common language of the people during Jesus' time. It's a common belief that when Jesus preached to the masses, he preached in Aramaic, but, when he taught his followers…"

"He would have used Hebrew as a Rabbi or teacher as his followers referred to him." Hotch finished for me.

Prentiss inclined her head in acknowledgement and walked out. She reappeared in the interview room and put the file in front of her. Martin repeated the same phrase to Prentiss in Arabic that he said to Rossi. She shot back two phrases to him. One sounded similar to Martin's phrase. The other did not. Martin did not respond and looked momentarily confused.

Rossi, on the other hand, didn't miss a beat. "No response?"

Martin was looking hard at Prentiss, "I don't respond to the devil's words. I see his works here in this pretty package with his silver tongue trying to trick me. I pray for her soul as it's been taken over by Jezebel herself."

Prentiss looked at Rossi and addressed him instead of Martin. I saw the corners of Hotch's mouth turn up slightly in approval. "He has no clue as to what I said."

Rossi opened the file and pulled out the pictures of the dead women, "Is that what you told them? Did you tell them that they had Jezebel inside of them? When you raped Pam Dennis and Christy Sweeny, did you whisper to them that Jezebel was making you do that to them? Is that how you got it up? You wanted to have the ultimate power. I bet when you killed the first time it was a mistake and you peed your pants like a baby. But then you got a rush from all that control. Life and death was in your hands."

"Beelzebub, be gone." Martin spat in response.

Rossi looked at Prentiss, "Prince of demons. I always wanted to be the prince of something."

Prentiss addressed Martin directly in a softer tone. "You call him Beelzebub. What do you call yourself?"

Martin leaned forward toward Prentiss. I saw him search her face. Both Hotch and Greg tensed at the action. Rossi looked cool as a cucumber.

"I am the teacher," he finally stated. "I am the prince of peace. I am the vessel of the one true God. I was mistaken about you though, wasn't I? You are special. I can show you who you really are."

"And who is that?" she asked.

His hand reached up toward Prentiss. Rossi leaned forward in warning. Martin gave him a sly look and dropped his hand. Focusing again on Prentiss, "You are my new Magdalene. You prostitute yourself for these, but soon you will come to me and only me."

Prentiss looked at Rossi then back at Martin again, "Susan was your Magdalene wasn't she. But she got scared with all this police attention. She wanted you to turn yourself in and explain that you were the new Messiah."

Rossi took over, "You're not the new Messiah, Martin. You're just a nobody trying to be a somebody and these women paid the price for that."

Prentiss volleyed, "Do you know how we know? When I walked in here I spoke to you. Do you know what I said?" She waited a beat. "You should have. The common language during Jesus' time was Aramaic and as a teacher, he would have taught his disciples in Hebrew. You should have recognized that. I told you to reveal all your secrets for me."

Rossi pulled out a picture of Susan Rutten, "She deserves better, Martin. Tell us where she is."

Martin focused on Prentiss again, "She's mine. She'll always be mine until I am revealed as the true one. You are mine too, now. You just don't know it yet."

"We know more than you think." Rossi responded. Both Prentiss and Rossi got up and walked out and entered the observation room with us.

Rossi looked at me, "Susan Rutten played guitar at the church you visited?"

I nodded. I wasn't seeing what these profilers were seeing. I looked at Greg and he shrugged his shoulders.

"He would have taken her someplace she felt connected to," Prentiss added, "someplace she felt comfortable and safe."

The light bulb finally going off in my head, "St Andrew's is her parish. If he was going to 'pray over her' he would have done it there."

"We were just there." Greg supplied. The place was locked up. The only place open was where we talked to the nun. Wouldn't she have seen the two of them?"

Hotch opened his phone, "He might have prayed over her there, but he would have taken her somewhere important to him when he was through." He spoke into the phone, "Garcia, get me everything you can on St. Bartholomew's church and grounds."

Greg looked at Rossi, "Where they held those healing thingies?"

"Sometimes healing services are held outside by a shrine of if the Stations of the Cross are along a pathway. It's secluded. He would know just where to take her." Rossi responded.

"Do you think she's still alive?" I asked.

"Unless we know otherwise, we're going to assume that she is." Hotch responded.

There was a flurry of activity as the team prepared to go search the grounds of St. Bartholomew's. Greg pulled me aside. "Are we going?"

"This is an in field review. How much more 'in the field' work can you get" Greg prompted.

"That's pretty lame, Greg." I supplied.

"But true." He countered.

"Lead us not into temptation, oh lord." I said as a quick prayer and turned to walk out.

Greg laughed as he put his hands on my shoulder and walked us toward the exit, "and they'll know we are Christians by our love."

A/n: I'm hoping the interrogation scene was ok and within what most would consider canon for the characters. I was also trying for a bit of a cliffhanger. The next chapter will reveal Susan Rutten's fate. I also plan on doing Prentiss' interview next. I will hit all the team member's with interviews before this is complete. If you're still with me and reading this, thank you so much. Just a warning… It may be a couple more weeks before the next chapter. For those who want more Reid, he gets more action in the next chapter.

Other: According to a friend of mine who has a masters in religious studies, Jesus would have taught the masses in Aramaic, the common language of that region during Christ's time. In private teachings to his disciples, he most likely would have spoken Hebrew.


End file.
